Don't Shoot Till You See the Whites of Their Eyes

I continue to see from different sources e-mails and comments that quote a comment or policy proposal by President Obama or a Texas legislator calling on the recipient to take action or we will lose either our freedom to homeschool or some other freedom. The danger of such messages is twofold.

First, they cause well meaning but uninformed people to react in fear, and they in turn spread the alarm. This often results in people taking action before they research the issue and spreading unwarranted alarm, which makes them and those who join them look foolish, because very often the information is wrong or misleading. The end result is a loss of credibility with the elected officials whom we contact. The moral? Check your information with sources you trust before you pass it on or take action!

Second, calling people to action is akin to calling them to arms. We have limited resources; just as in battle, there are limited weapons, ammunition and soldiers. In the political battle of defending our freedom, if we call people to take action again and again, they will tire and no longer respond. Therefore we must be wise in our strategies and tactics. As I mentioned in my last post, our approach is to inform about a bill first, and when the bill is up for a hearing in committee, we call for action, when that action might actually do some good. So we might say, as William Prescott did at the Battle of Bunker Hill in the American Revolution, "Don't shoot till you see the whites of their eyes."

In the Texas House, in November of last year Raymond filed HB 316 which would lower the compulsory attendance age to five. This bill is the same as HB 169 that he filed in the 2007 legislative session. In 2007, HB 169 was never even given a hearing because of THSC opposition, and the bill died in committee-without a shot even being fired, so to speak. In 1989, the Texas legislature lowered the compulsory attendance age from 7 to 6, and in every legislative session since then there has been an attempt to lower the age to five. I think it is safe to say that the only reason this has not happened is because home school parents oppose it.

Home schoolers oppose such a measure because it would require the formal instruction of five-year-olds even by home schoolers, and many five-year-olds are simply not ready for formal instruction. Even many school teachers acknowledge this; coupled with the fact that 90% of Texas children are already in kindergarten, it doesn't make sense to take from parents the freedom to do what they believe is best for their child. We will inform Representative Raymond again of our opposition, and if the bill comes up for a hearing, when it will do the most good, we will ask you to take action.